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BNP PARIBAS SENSITISATION, 29TH AUGUST 2017

Once again on August 29th, 2017 Mumbai experienced similar horrors to those of 26th July, 2005. Thousands of people were stuck in
offices, schools, trains, stations and many other places. People were
stranded with no means of available transport and some, without any source of
food or drinking water. Amidst the many people who were stuck outside their
homes, was our Toybank team.

This is how the story unfolded...

On August 29, our team had a sensitization
session scheduled at the offices of BNP Paribas. The session was scheduled to
start at 11 am. It started raining at around 9 am that day and by 11 am the
situation had worsened. People were already struggling to reach their offices on time.
Our team, with much difficulty, reached the offices by 11 but found only a few
attendees present. Understanding the situation, we decided to wait for some
time to let the other attendees arrive, wondering if they had decided to stay
at home instead. But, we were surprised to see the attendees arrive slowly and
in about 30 minutes there were around 20-25 people present in the room.

Despite the rain, we then decided to move forward with the
session. Our founder Ms Shweta Chari and Communications manager were present on
the scene. They found out that these attendees were dedicated to our cause. Our
usual structure is that, we first give our sensitization talk and then organize
a collection drive for the employees. These employees had already started with
the collection drive before we even met them.

It was heart-warming to see such dedication
from people who, until we spoke to them, knew only that we are in need of toys.
Needless to say, even though it was an extremely difficult day, it was a
productive one.

We really have no words to describe what we feel right now.
This was an exceptional experience. One that we will never forget.

Toybank, an initiative under The Opentree Foundation, is an organization in India that promotes the Right to Play for all children, because a happy childhood defines almost every aspect of a child’s life and in turn the society. Founded in August 2004, our motto is to provide every economically-disadvantaged child an equal opportunity to education, achieved through healthy play and games.
As of January 2018, Toybank has set up 276 Play Centers and impacts the lives of 43,009 at-risk children every day.